Spark of Courage
by Himesayuri Phoenix
Summary: [OC] Hotaru: Genin Years 2. Just after the war in Konoha, a Chuunin Exam must still be held to replace the ninjas who've died. On Brank guard duty for the exam, Hotaru's having her own problems...[guest appearance by Team Gai
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

The next in my OCnin's adventures, this time with a guest appearance by Team Gai (you'll be seeing more of them later since they're my favorite team.)

And it's time I made an official plug for myself (flamestarphoenix), Rising Black Rose (sorceressnymph), and 1387tortures over at DeviantArt. We all have pictures and/or stories of the ninjas featured here, up in our galleries over there. Enjoy!

Again, for safety purposes:

Hotaru and any characters not expressly mentioned below are all © Me

Sutiibu-sensei design © me, the concept of the character came from both me and 1387tortures of DeviantArt (based on our TKD instructor :D)

Garuki © 1387tortures used with permission.

Nariko design © me; Nariko, Jomei, and Shiro characters by Rising Black Rose (of this site) and myself (most of the credit belongs to her – please read her accompanying stories!), used with permission.

Naruto, all of the ninja concepts from it, Hyuuga Neji and Team Gai © Masashi Kishimoto

Spark of Courage

Hotaru: Genin Years, Story Two

_THUMP._

Both my forearms pressed against the metal arm bracer of the enemy ninja. He sneered at me beneath the glinting Sound forehead protector. He was stronger than me, and he knew it.

That, and he still had one free arm.

I glanced nervously to either side. There had been too many of them; I had no backup. It had been foolish, taking him on unarmed and low on chakra, but I hadn't had much of a choice. We were surrounded by snow and trees – enclosed. There was nowhere to run, even assuming I could run faster than sound.

That is, after all, what escaping would have required.

The Sound nin laughed, leveled his free arm at me, and blasted high-pressure air straight into my center. I was blown backwards, slammed against a tree. The ninja cackled; I could see waves in the air as he forced it into a sharp weapon-like mass, and prepared to send it piercing straight through me.

Slumped in place, I struggled to regain my breath. Heaving, I reached for my last shuriken and readied it to throw.

"Hotaru, don't do it! He'll just blast it away with more air!"

Still dizzy from the blow, it took a moment to register who spoke.

"Garuki?" Suddenly, there was hope.

"Of course," I heard from behind me. He spoke no more; still concealed in the upper levels of the trees, any more sound would have given away his position.

I didn't move. The ninja stood before me, scanning the trees squint-eyed in search of my companion.

I knew where Garuki was; not far behind me, high in the trees. I heard him drop to the ground. The Sound nin heard it too, but too late. Garuki had performed the summon while falling, and by the time he landed, the butterflies had formed a tight swarm around the Sound ninja's head. Certainly, a well-placed blast of air pressure would have sent them away; however, the pack of wolves reached the ninja in mere seconds, grasping both arms firmly with their jaws, clamping down brutally.

The Sound ninja writhed and screamed out. It wouldn't last long, I knew. I scrambled to my feet, hoping I'd be well hidden in the trees before the Sound nin would figure out how to best disband swarm and pack.

I didn't make it far before the screaming stopped – I knew I was running out of time. "Garuki!" I called. "I'm out of chakra! I'm sorry, it's up to you."

He was nearby; I heard his quiet reply well enough. "No problem. Stay back."

A second later, confident that the Butterfly Wolf Blitz would distract the Sound ninja, Garuki stepped from the trees, planted his feet firmly and performed a series of hand seals. I could see the chakra flowing from his feet into the ground in large quantities.

"Watch out, Summons!" he warned. "Snow Storm no Jutsu!"

The summons backed up the tiniest bit just in time, as snow flew up from the ground and in towards the Sound nin in large enough amounts to warrant a true blizzard. In seconds, all of the snow had been packed tightly around the ninja, squeezing inward and cutting off airflow. Garuki's butterflies fluttered cautiously around the deformed mass. All but one of the wolves disappeared.

Garuki grinned. I sent him a smile of thanks; in a few moments we would be safe.

Then the packed snow exploded in all directions. I barely had time to duck behind a tree for cover before the shrapnel-like clumps of snow flew past.

Garuki was slower than me. My eyes grew wide when I saw the slashes bloodying his arms and face.

The Sound ninja laughed, and spoke for the first time since I had engaged him in combat.

"You think a little barrier of snow and ice can withstand my sound explosions?" He laughed, a slow, strained laugh that reeked of evil intention. "Seems like you've both reached the end of your rope, so to speak. Very well, then." He pointed one arm at each of us, preparing to blast us to pieces. "I hope you've enjoyed viewing my particular skill. It's not often that I put my Sound Weapon-forming skills to such good use."

It happened in a matter of seconds, at most. The remaining summoned wolf, behind the enemy, burst from the bushes where it hid and transformed into Katana. Two butterflies became kama and fell right into her hands as she charged three feet forward. Her arms crossed, the kama slashed, and the Sound ninja lay in two halves on the ground.

She remained where she crouched, arms outstretched and head down, as the body parts fell to the ground before her.

"Your weapons have nothing on mine."

I could do nothing but stare for a moment. Garuki transformed into copies of his summons often enough, but it hadn't even occurred to me that Katana would do the same. And to transform her weapons into copies must have taken immense practice.

Katana knelt and let her arms drop, glaring at me. "You're lucky."

"You…you two have been practicing without me again, haven't you?"

"Tch. You weren't necessary for that particular maneuver, that's all." She flicked her hair away from her eyes and pulled a towel from her pack, standing and wiping off of herself the blood that had spattered from the enemy. She nodded in Garuki's direction. "The kid saved your life. Are you just going to let him sit there and bleed to death, for heaven's sake?"

"I…oh. Of course." I made my way over to Garuki and began dressing his wounds. Basic after-battle medical care seemed to be the only thing I was good for, those days. I was no medic ninja, but I knew basic first aid well enough.

A ninja in a silver flak-jacket appeared in the clearing with us, jumping down from the trees. "The area's all secure…my goodness, what happened here?"

"Sutiibu-sensei, Hotaru was cornered…" Garuki began, but it was Katana who gave her version of the report.

"She took on a Chuunin or Jounin-ranked Sound ninja on her own, unarmed, and was about to be killed before the kid and I came to the rescue. She would have been skewered alive by weapon-shaped air pressure blasts." She rolled her eyes, then returned to fastidiously cleaning her two kama.

Sutiibu-sensei frowned slightly, then nodded. "Well, this is why you all need to be working together, instead of breaking into three parts like that. We put you on a team for a reason. That means you should stick with me, as well." He looked at Garuki, and then me. "Are the two of you all right?"

"I've just got the wind knocked out of me, that's all."

Garuki held up the arm I wasn't working on to examine. "The cuts aren't very deep. I should be fine."

Sutiibu sighed. "Very well. Since the enemy ninjas have been eliminated, we should head back to the village as soon as possible."

News of the war in Konoha came as a great shock to the ninjas of Snow. Sand and Konoha were both our allies; for days after receiving the news, the council of elders and Yukikage-sama had debated what position to take. However, it soon became clear that it was Sound, not Sand, who was the true aggressor; Sand had been tricked into their traitorous attack on Konoha, and their Kazekage had been brutally assassinated. It was not long after my fourteenth birthday, when I had been a Genin for a bit over a year, when Yukikage gave the announcement to the city; we would be entering the war on the side of Konoha.

However, the war itself was over before any of our ninjas could reach Konoha. Konoha's ninjas had successfully defended the city and driven back the Sound and Sand enemies, but their Hokage had been slain. In chaos, lacking leader and much of their usual power, Konoha forgave Sand and re-established their alliance. Sound, whose leader, Orochimaru, was brutally injured, retreated. Yukikage recalled the ninja teams sent as support temporarily. She intended to send different teams, chosen specifically to act as guards and to help rebuild, in a short time.

That had been six months earlier. However, Sound had regrouped; they often sent raiding parties against the Allied Nations' Hidden Villages, trying to prevent support from being sent to Konoha. None of the Genin teams sent for rebuilding purposes had managed to make it as far as Konoha. Several Jounin teams had arrived safely, only to be recalled when the raiding parties began attacking Snow Village itself.

It was one of those raiding parties that had resulted in the team being split up, and me being in such dire need of a rescue.

Sutiibu, Katana, and I stood around the hospital bed on which Garuki sat, legs dangling over the side, arms outstretched as a nurse ninja healed the gashes from the blasted snow shards. Watching his laid-back smile, I found it incredible how he could be so relaxed and happy even then.

"These raids have been coming more and more frequently, Sutiibu-sensei," Katana said as she leaned against the edge of the bed, arms crossed. "That doesn't make sense. The longer we wait, the stronger Konoha becomes and the less they need our help. Sound must certainly understand that. You'd think the raids would be happening less."

"Ah, well, I suppose it's because of the Chuunin Exam," Sutiibu mused.

"Chuunin Exam!" Katana and I demanded simultaneously. Even Garuki's interest was peaked.

"You mean, they're actually having the Chuunin Exam even in war time?" he asked.

"They couldn't possibly be holding it in Konoha like normal," I said. "Besides…so many ninjas have been killed…I can't imagine there are many eligible Genin out there, from any of the allied villages…"

Sutiibu nodded. "Correct, on both accounts. However, you are forgetting something important. Many of the ninjas who fought in the combat zones were Chuunin and Jounin. And the less-experienced Chuunin were more likely to be killed. Many of the villages involved in the war are experiencing a shortage of Chuunin and Jounin. Therefore it is imperative that we hold the Exam, even if there are much smaller numbers than normal."

I nodded. "That makes sense."

"Because Konoha is still rebuilding, and because we are expecting so many fewer participants, the Exam is to be held in Hidden Waterfall this year. The announcement was made two days ago. I suspect the increase in raiding parties from Sound is meant to prevent the participants from traveling to Waterfall to compete."

Katana looked up. "Sensei, Snow has lost Chuunin and Jounin to the war as well, although indirectly."

Sutiibu's crystal blue eyes shone with regret. "We have."

"So," she continued, "there is a shortage for us as well."

"Yes."

"Then this team should take the exam."

"Yes – I mean, wait, no!" Sutiibu shook his head. "Of course not. You know the drill, Katana-san. I do not allow my team members to test until they have been Genin for two years. No exceptions!"

"But I've been a Genin for three years!"

"It's probably best," Garuki said. "I'm sorry, Katana-nee-san, but we aren't ready yet, Hotaru and I."

Katana glared. "You're wrong. _You_ are ready. Look at what we pulled off today! You can perform a double summon, for crying out loud!" She looked at me. "_She's _the only reason sensei won't let us go. She wouldn't make it past the second round, and we'd all be flunked for it."

I admit – right then, I wanted to take the exam, just to prove her wrong.

"That is not true," Sutiibu said, eyes hard, voice like steel. "There are rules, on my Team, and you are to follow them. Another one of those rules is to encourage your teammates, Katana-san. Since you have broken that, you have shown yourself yet again unprepared for the Exam. Congratulations, you've proven for me that my rule was a good one." He smiled.

Katana's jaw dropped. "But…"

Sutiibu-sensei stared her down. "And, since you have broken that, you also owe me twenty laps around the village walls as punishment. It is to be served out the moment we get out of the meeting with Yukikage."

"All done!" The nurse smiled kindly at Garuki. "You are free to go."

"Good," Sutiibu-sensei said, stretching his arms and walking towards the door. "We're due to meet Yukikage-sama for the mission report in two hours. Why don't you all go find yourself some lunch?"

I stood alone before the doors to Yukikage-sama's office, too nervous at first to knock.

'She had a messenger bring a note here,' Nariko-san had said when I returned to the apartment for lunch. 'She wants to see you personally before she meets with Team Nine.'

While it wasn't unusual for me to spend time in Yukiko-sama's office occasionally, she did not normally summon me there via messenger. Whatever she had to say was important.

I sucked in a deep breath and rapped on the door with one hand. Yukikage's assistant, Kumiko-san, opened the door.

"Hotaru-san," she whispered. "Yukikage-sama is still in a meeting, but she'd like you to come on in to wait." She smiled welcomingly and let me in. I took a seat in one of the chairs lined up on the nearby wall.

Kumiko-san left the room, leaving only me, Yukikage-sama, who was seated behind her desk, and the tall, masked ANBU to whom she was speaking.

"…which of course is creating many problems. Even without the shortage of higher-ranked ninjas to act as escorts, I expect Konoha's students to be most at risk. Therefore, you are to choose the best three ANBU from your regiment, travel with them to Konoha, and escort their Genin examinees to Waterfall and back for the Exam. If you perform well, it will secure you a spot as ANBU Captain. Understood?"

"Hai, Yukikage-sama."

The cloaked ANBU turned, face turned toward me curiously from behind his striped bear mask as he strode out the doors.

Yukiko-san noticed the manner in which I watched the ninja leave.

"What is it, Hotaru-chan? Is something bothering you?"

"His voice…it sounded much too young for someone his age," I said.

She laughed. "How old do you think he is, Hotaru-chan?"

My brow furrowed. "Well, he's an ANBU, so probably eighteen or twenty at least."

"He just recently turned sixteen."

My eyes grew wide. "What?"

She smiled. "That boy, Kane-san, has been an ANBU since he was fourteen years old, Hotaru-chan. He has also been a Jounin for that long. You would be wise not to make assumptions about a ninja's ability based on age, child. It will not serve you well in combat."

_Fourteen…_I thought. _That boy's been a Jounin-ranked ANBU since he was _my_ age._ All my feelings of inadequacy returned at once, blowing all sense of reason out of my mind. I am certain my expression was comical, though my thoughts were not.

"Hotaru…you must understand, ninjas like Kane-san are incredibly rare. It is not normal to reach such a rank at such a young age. With him, it was expected; after all, he is my younger brother."

I stared at her.

"It is not expected of you. However," she continued, "certain things are." She grew serious, placed her chin in her hands, and looked me over carefully. "Please come sit closer to me, Hotaru-san."

I obliged, taking a seat across the desk from her.

She spoke quietly. "I've been speaking with Sutiibu-san. You have shown very little sign of improvement."

"I've been practicing really hard, Yukikage-sama!"

"In that case, you still have not been practicing _enough_. While your techniques have stabilized, they have not grown stronger. You get into situations you cannot handle and fail to use your great intelligence in real combat scenarios. That can place your life in danger, on more difficult missions; even more, it can drag your comrades into peril!" She sighed. "I know you are a bright girl, Hotaru-chan. You are immensely dedicated, and in class you are very good at what you do. But you need to apply that to missions. You are holding back your team."

I blinked. "Holding them back?"

"Takeyoshi Katana and Mikata Garuki are both very talented. You are, too, in different ways, but your talent does not show on missions. I have sent your team on several C-ranked missions, and the team as a whole has done well. I wish to send you on a B-ranked mission."

"B-ranked?" I said. "That's supposed to be reserved for Chuunin!"

"Well, I feel your team's specific strengths would be perfect for the situation. However, Hotaru, I hesitate to place you in such a dangerous position."

I was silent, ashamed of my lack of progress.

"I am going to assign your team this mission, Hotaru-san. I think, if you can learn to think actively on the field, it is not out of your league. However, if you do not perform well, I will be forced to reassign you to a new team, with rookie Genin from the Academy who are closer to your level. You have been given your warning. Do you understand?"

"Hai, Yukikage-sama." My voice shook. No matter what happened, I couldn't be

removed from my team. I just couldn't.

"Good." Her smile returned. "Now, please have a cup of miso soup with me while we await your teammates."

I nodded, eyes downcast. "That sounds great."

After the meeting, I returned to the apartment to find Nariko-san surrounded by small pots of dirt, using each in turn to form objects out of the soil. Her hands were at her sides, spotlessly clean. Nariko didn't need to use her hands; she formed the objects with chakra and a mere twist of her mind.

This was Nariko's Bloodline Limit.

She looked up upon my entry, losing concentration so that her current dirt figurine returned to dust and fell back into its pot. "Is everything all right, Hotaru-chan? You look pale."

"Oh…well, we just got back, and we've been given our next mission already."

"Really?" She moved onto the couch to rest more comfortably, and I sat on the other end.

"Yes. Apparently there's a Chuunin Exam in Hidden Waterfall in about a week. Yukikage-sama said that she's sending five teams of Genin from Snow to take the exam. However, four of the teams already left, and she's worried about the safety as the remaining team. My team is supposed to escort them to Waterfall and back, and act as extra security for Waterfall during the exams."

"Oh."

"Nariko…what's going on? Why won't you look at me?'

She continued to avoid my glance. "I just know how badly you want to take the exam."

I shook my head. "I'm not ready. Besides, you know Sutiibu-sensei's rule."

"Don't lie to me, Hotaru. I don't care what the reasons are; I know you wanted to take it."

I paused. When I thought about it, she was right. "It's scary that you know me better than I know myself, Nari-chan. But you shouldn't let it get to you. It has nothing to do with you."

She fidgeted in her seat. "That Genin team you're escorting to the Exam? It's Team Six."

I stared. "Your team? You're taking the Exam?" I may have sounded surprised, but I shouldn't have been. Nariko had been training her Bloodline vigorously since we became Genin, working with Rai in the practice fields, or alone on the flat apartment roof. She could mold, or 'bend', both earth and water now. She had even begun training in air bending. With that advantage and Rai by her side, her strength and talent had grown immensely. We no longer sparred each other for practice, because I couldn't even touch her.

Meanwhile, my growth as a ninja had stagnated so completely that the Yukikage wished to remove me from my team.

Right then, I would have given anything for an advantage like Nariko's Bloodline Limit. I was confident that, with an ability like hers, I could become strong. I would no longer be a burden to my Village.

But I was growing tired of wishful thinking.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The trip to Hidden Waterfall was relatively uneventful. We were attacked once; however, the inexperienced three-person team from Sound was easily overwhelmed by the six Genin , two Jounin, and Rai in our party. We arrived outside the Village within three days.

Hidden Waterfall ninjas have always been notorious for their secrecy. A Waterfall Jounin met us well outside the border. We were all blindfolded to be led to the entrance to the city; even once we reached the "entrance," in a hidden cave, we still had to swim through an underground stream passageway and take a short boat trip to reach the city walls.

It was worth the trip. Waterfall was beautiful, surrounded with water, draped with mist, with a giant tree in the center of the village. I had never seen anything like it.

The Waterfall Jounin led us on a tour around the village, then dropped us off at the practice fields so Nariko, Jomei, and Shiro could train for the exam. Because we arrived early and were not due to meet Waterfall's Kage for at least an hour, Sutiibu-san, Garuki and I stayed to watch. Katana spoke quietly with Sutiibu-san and the Waterfall Jounin for a moment before slipping away. I believe I saw her enter a practice field several gates down.

Like in most ninja Villages, the practice areas were completely surrounded by tall, vicious-looking fences. In Waterfall, a smaller village, all the practice fields aside from one were in a row on the edge of the village. The entrances could all be seen from where I stood. The fields, however, were all obscured; even the areas made to simulate open fields inside were circled with trees. A security measure, to protect the secret techniques of the practicing ninjas, I suppose.

In any case, I couldn't see where Katana went.

Juro-san opened the gate for Nariko, Rai, Jomei, and Shiro, who entered the area. It was an open field inside, chosen specifically so Rai could work alongside the team. He was nearly fully grown – too large to be of much use in a forest.

Juro-san turned to Sutiibu-sensei. "Would you like to join us? I don't mind if you all watch." He grinned. "It's not as if our students don't train together on a regular basis anyway."

Sutiibu nodded. "Sure. Hotaru-chan, Garuki-chan, what do you say? Let's go cheer them on."

Sutiibu and Garuki entered the training area. I was about to follow when the next gate down was opened.

"Hotaru-san? They let _you _come take the exam?"

When it became clear that ignoring her was not an option, I turned to her, sighing and trying to keep my patience. "Aiko-san. Congratulations on being nominated for the exam."

She crossed her arms, cocked her head to the side, and stared me down. Her two teammates, both girls, stood behind her merely looking on.

"Wait." She smirked. "They didn't nominate you, did they? You're just here to watch, aren't you?" She laughed when I didn't answer immediately. "I should have figured."

"That's not it. Sutiibu-sensei doesn't let any of his students take the exam until they've been Genin for two years. It's the rule."

"Whatever. It's not as if _you_ would be able to take the exam. You'd probably have been killed." She eyed her comrades. "Although, I suppose that would have been for the better. Your teammates would finally be able to go on a mission without having to save your butt."

_How…how does she know?_ I thought, shaken.

"Of course, that little boyfriend of yours would probably be heartbroken."

That brought me back to reality. I rolled my eyes, ignoring the incorrect boyfriend jab in favor of getting to the heart of the matter.

"I'll have you know, Aiko-san, that my team and I are here on a special mission from the Yukikage herself. A B-ranked mission."

I happened to know, courtesy of Nariko's enigmatic information-gathering ability, that Aiko-san's team had never even been considered for a B-ranked mission. That was normal, of course. But I knew it would bother her.

Aiko's eye twitched. "Hmph. Whatever. Be sure to come watch me win the final exam. Ta-ta."

She and her flunkies sauntered off, and I joined my team in the practice area. Garuki have me a questioning raise of an eyebrow upon my late entry, but I shrugged it off. I was used to it, after all.

The first part of the exam was the very next morning. Those of us not participating were not allowed to watch; Garuki, Katana, Sutiibu and I were on security detail outside the building anyway. It probably would have been more effective if we were outside the walls of Hidden Waterfall, from whence an attack would more likely come, but the Waterfall Jounin were weary of the careful and time-consuming process required to take us back and forth across the border through the hidden tunnels. We stayed within the city walls.

After our shift was over, Garuki and I searched out the local Ichiraku for a hearty lunch of ramen. I went back to the spare Waterfall Academy dorm room that Nariko and I were sharing, hoping to sneak a nap in before my team's next shift, and found Nariko and Rai sitting on the floor of the room staring at a piece of paper.

Rai looked up at my entrance. "Hello, Hotaru-san. How were the rounds?"

"Uneventful, thankfully. How did the exam go? Nariko-chan?"

Nariko was quiet.

"It went quite well," Rai said jovially. "It was a written exam. Aside from that, though, we aren't allowed to give you details. Only that three of the Snow teams, including ours, passed."

"Only three?"

Nariko sighed, finally speaking. "Aiko-san's team was another, of course."

I smiled, however. "Congratulations, Nariko-chan. I hear less than half of the teams pass the written exam. That's pretty incredible you guys made it on your first try."

"The next round is a six-day wilderness survival exam. In the woods."

"Oh." I understood why she appeared so stressed. "Rai's allowed to come, though, right?"

"Sure, he's allowed."

"But I'd only get in the way," Rai pointed out.

Nariko looked at me. There was an unfamiliar shine in her eyes; I'd seen it once before, when someone had mentioned Nariko-chan's father.

"Hotaru-chan. I'm not ready for this. We're allowed to kill, from here out."

"Kill? At an exam? Among allies?" It seemed ridiculous.

"I…I can't do that to Rai. You know what happens if I get hurt or die…"

"…he does too."

It was the price of their peculiar bond.

"I told her I'd do it," explained Rai. "I have faith in her. Besides, it's not like we don't put our lives on the line in normal missions."

"But this isn't a normal mission," Nariko said. "It's just an exam."

"So why don't you wait? You can train really hard for the next six months, now that you know what to expect, and I'm sure you'd be prepared for the next exam. It's no big deal."

"Shiro and Jomei are both ready, Hotaru."

I considered. "You're right, at least Shiro would pass for sure. But that has nothing to do with you."

"Hotaru…the exam is done in teams. If I drop out, they can't continue either."

I stared.

Nariko looked down at what I realized was a liability waiver, which had to be signed before they entered the next round.

"I have until tomorrow to decide."

"Don't you have something more useful to do than spying on the examinees, Hotaru-chan?" asked Katana, with her usual skepticism. "Training, perhaps?"

I didn't answer.

"Come on, Katana-nee-san," Garuki said. "She's just worried about her friend. We were planning on spending some time in the training fields as soon as we find out what's going on."

Katana looked at me as we walked the streets of Waterfall, face appearing oddly sincere. "Listen, Hotaru-chan, I'm just trying to look out for you, right? You heard the Waterfall's Kage, they want us on patrol tomorrow and the attacks have increased. We need to be in top form. I'm going to spend the day training too; it's not meant as a jibe towards you in particular."

She halted outside a practice gate. "This is where I'm going to be working for the day. Have somebody come get me when it's dinner time, okay?"

"Mind if we join you in a bit, nee-san?" Garuki asked.

Katana frowned. "Actually, why don't you work with Hotaru a bit. I'm not going to be working on any group techniques today. I need practice with needle and wire attacks."

"But those are your specialty!" I said.

She grinned. "Which is why these new techniques are going to be spectacular. Farewell, now. Get some practice, and then rest up, you two. We'll be out there awhile starting tomorrow."

Garuki and I waved as she entered the enclosed area and closed the gate behind her, and then made our way toward where we knew the examinees would be gathering that morning.

"Is it just me, or did she seem especially cordial this morning?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I guess this mission is a pretty serious one. Guarding the Exam Area that's been hidden in the forest outside of the village; I bet she's just worried about us. You know how she gets."

"Like an older sister." _Complete with sibling rivalry, I suppose,_ I thought.

"Yup. Oh, look! There they are."

Around the corner from the building to our right, the examinees were gathered, listening to the instructions of a Waterfall Jounin. He must have been the examiner in charge of the Second Exam.

Garuki and I knelt behind the bush at the corner of the building and he formed a simple genjutsu to keep us concealed. Unfortunately, we weren't able to hear much from the distance we were at; something about turning in forms to receive scrolls, staying with your team, being transported blindfolded out of the village and to the secret Second Exam location, and that was all. The Genin all broke up into teams, and one team at a time entered an enclosed tent. I saw Aiko's team enter, followed by a formidable-looking group from Konoha, two black-haired boys and a girl whose outfit I really liked, who was carrying a large scroll. Then several groups from smaller villages like Rock and Rain.

"Look," I whispered, pointing to Garuki. "There's Nariko, Jomei, Shiro and Rai. Next in line for the tent."

They entered, and left several moments later. Nariko led the way, Rai beside her. She was trying to ignore the incensed protests of Jomei, who was following her, trying to keep up to her ever-increasing pace. Shiro was several paces behind his teammates, pensive, silent.

"Well, that answers that," I said to Garuki.

He nodded, and frowned as Nariko and her company disappeared around the corner of a nearby building. Nariko was heading back to our shared dormitory, from her direction. I wanted to check on her, but it would have to wait. Garuki stared after them, biting his lip.

"It's going to be a little uncomfortable in our group for awhile, isn't it?"

"Yeah, Garuki-chan, most likely. But you know Jomei and Shiro. They won't stay mad for long."

"Yeah. So…what now?"

"Shall we head over to the practice fields until dinner? I've packed a couple of obentos for lunch, so we can stay until dinner."

He pouted jokingly as he stood. "What, no ramen?"

"We can eat at Ichiraku for dinner, Garuki-chan." I laughed. "We should probably have at least one quality meal today before several days in the woods."

"Yeah. I guess so."

We walked in silence until reaching the line of practice fields. A Waterfall Chuunin was on guard, but wasn't paying much attention; after we wrote our names on the Field Sign-up Sheet, he didn't give us a second glance. I saw Katana-san's name on the list under "Field Two: River/Field." The surprise was that under "Number of Ninjas" was the number 2.

"Do you think she's training with Sensei?" I asked Garuki as we moved down the row of gates to ours.

"I thought he was on guard duty today," he replied. "Besides, he always works us as a team."

As we passed Gate Two, I snuck over to the fence. Garuki stared at me, like he couldn't believe what I was doing, but I didn't care. I was curious.

I slipped inside the gate and hid in the bushes, making my way to the center of the area. Soon, I saw Katana, facing away from me, holding some needles in between her fingers and shooting a frustrated glare at the young man standing beside her. He was facing my way, needles held at slightly different angles; the proper way, I guessed. His hair was the shocking silver of the Yukikage's, although his eyes and posture gave away his youth. He couldn't have been much older than me.

He was wearing an ANBU cloak.

"Yukiko-sama's little brother," I guessed. The one from her office. And it occurred to me that I had seen him once before; in a Yuki training field with Sutiibu's old team, before Garuki and I joined. He'd been a Chuunin at that time, if I recalled.

I hadn't made a sound, but the silver-haired young man's eyes suddenly pierced mine. He made no indication that he'd spotted me, but I could feel it. I left quickly.

Garuki and I spent all day at Training Field Five, one of the forested areas. I came up with some pretty good ideas for combo moves, but the reality was, Garuki just had way more chakra than me. I wore out too quickly, wasn't able to practice for long periods without a break, and wasn't able to do my part for the combos we put together. Finally, worn out and running low on daylight, I suggested we break for ramen. Garuki, of course, acquiesced.

We picked up Katana-san at her training field on the way out, as requested. By the time we showed up, she was alone, as if she'd been alone the whole time. She looked exhausted.

"I thought you told us not to overly tire ourselves, nee-san," I chided as we walked to Ichiraku.

She merely glared at me.

"I'm sure she'll be fine if she gets a good rest," Garuki felt the need to put in.

I changed the subject. "So, Katana-nee-san, why are you working with the Yukikage's little brother? Is he your boyfriend or something? He's about your age, isn't he?"

Her eyes grew wide, more from disbelief than anger as far as I could tell. "How…How do you know? I mean, it's none of your business…he was on Sutiibu-sensei's team before I was, and he often helped out with our training, before you guys came along. But then he got into ANBU, so…" she shrugged. "He's a specialist in mixing genjutsu with weapons techniques, and he was here on assignment, so I asked him to train me. That's all."

"So what's the big deal?" Garuki asked. "Am I missing something?"

"Sensei doesn't know, does he?" I asked her, suddenly guessing.

She wrinkled her nose in a little sneer. "You know he wouldn't approve of me getting special training on my own. So you aren't going to tell him."

I shrugged. "Like I care."

We reached an intersection and Katana turned. "I'm meeting Sensei for dinner at the Yakisoba place over there." She nodded down the road. "I'm assuming you two are headed for the usual?" And she left without waiting for an answer.

Garuki and I continued down the road we'd been on, approaching Ichiraku. Something occurred to me.

"Hey, Garuki-chan. Do you think…do you think Katana's trying to get into ANBU?"

"That's ridiculous! They almost never take Genin!"

"Yeah…" I said. "But, she is unusually talented. And it would be a way out of this team, without passing the Exam." _It's my fault. I'm holding her back,_ I thought.

But Garuki shook his head. "Nee-san wouldn't leave us. She feels responsible for us, I think, even if she wouldn't admit it."

Still, I had to wonder.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning, I woke around 3 AM and tiptoed around the dormitory, trying to avoid waking Nariko. I'd spoken with her the night before; as we'd expected, she'd decided to drop the exam, and her teammates weren't especially happy. But because it was my Team's duty to guide them home, they'd have to stay in Waterfall until our guard duty was over. Nariko had also mumbled something about "watching the final exam round," which Juro-sensei assigned the team as preparation for a future exam. Apparently the final, third round of the exam was open to all watchers. It was to be held in a week. Until then, her team was to patrol the woods, like ours.

We received the Second Exam specifics from the Waterfall Jounin as he led us to our post outside the village. It was a five day survival test, as Nari-chan had said, and was held in an enclosed space outside the village. We'd be guarding the perimeter. Inside the area, the three-man teams were competing against each other to procure a matched set of scrolls, and bring them to a tower in the center of the five-mile-radius area. Each team had been given one of the two kinds of scrolls and needed both to succeed. In other words, at least half the teams would fail.

I badly hoped Aiko's team was one of them. But I also knew that their teamwork was top-notch. Not difficult, of course, when the two cronies did everything Aiko said – but it was teamwork nonetheless.

The Waterfall nin dropped us off at our starting point and gave us our final instructions. "You'll be out here for two and a half of the five days. At that point, meet me here for transport." He saluted, and disappeared. Sutiibu checked our supplies, handed out our radios, and we split up to scout, promising to check back in an hour.

A day and a half later, we had already encountered three groups of enemy ninjas. None of us had gotten much sleep, even taking shifts as we had. Breakfast had been edible plants – sparse, not so tasty. My stomach was aching for lunch. But there were other things to worry about at that moment. From my perch in the trees, I had just spotted a Rain nin moving in the direction of the Exam enclosure. That wire fence wouldn't hold a quality ninja for long; it was more of a boundary marker than a border, and anyone could tell. The exploding tag barriers likely wouldn't hold them long either. I clicked the button on my radio.

"Sutiibu-sensei. I've got a Rain nin by position eight."

"Rain?" the radio crackled back. "They have students in the exam."

"Not this one," I whispered at the radio as I the nin's forehead protector caught a ray of sunlight through the trees. There was a large slash through the engraving. "This one's a Missing Nin."

Silence greeted me, then finally, "Don't you dare make a move until we all reach you." I knew why; Missing Nins, to survive, had to be able to outsmart village ANBU on a regular basis. This guy wasn't like the raiding parties we'd met so far. Just because he was alone didn't mean he'd be an easy take-down.

"Hai."

"Garuki, Katana, to position eight as quickly as possible," the radio crackled once more. I cringed – I'd accidentally hit the volume. It was only a fraction louder, but the Missing Rain ninja, ten yards away, turned sharply in my direction.

I froze.

He pulled out a kunai knife, and then it was lodged in the tree beside my ear. I jerked away from it, gaping at its speed, and the ninja sneered a smile.

Too late. I'd have to fight.

_Too bad I ran out of chakra like, yesterday._

I tried to think of everything I'd been taught about distance battle. Distance combat meant one thing – genjutsu. And as Aiko-san never failed to remind me, I couldn't pull off a decent genjutsu on a full chakra tank, let alone now, let alone one good enough to fool a missing nin. Close combat was more my style, if I had a style. And Rain nins, with their genjutsu talents, normally weren't close-range fighters.

So I decided to do the one thing he wouldn't expect. A full-on charge. I pulled my shuriken from their holster, dropped from the tree, threw the shuriken in a wide arc pattern at the nin, and sped straight toward him.

He blinked, laughed, avoided all six shuriken, and pulled a large, thin sword from his belt in less than a heartbeat. I ducked under the blade, sliding along the ground feet-first, and jammed my right leg into his chest from below. The impact felt great; I'd taken him off-guard, I'd gotten him!

The man exploded into a thousand and more pieces, a blast of hail that ripped my skin as I fell back to the ground. An exploding clone. I scanned the area frantically, wide eyes searching, but he'd used the diversion to hide himself. Knowing what to expect, when the dizzying touch of genjutsu swept my mind like a feather, I'd already steeled against it and was able to dispel it before it had fully taken over. Stalemate – I couldn't get him, but he hadn't gotten me either.

Still, he was at the advantage. He knew where I was. And Rain ninjas are very, very good with needles.

I readied myself for an attack, senses heightened almost to breaking point, but I could already feel it. The hail had torn at me pretty badly, and my energy was draining with the seconds. I cursed my endurance as I waited for the enemy to move.

And there they were! A flash of light in my peripheral vision, all the warning I had. No time to move –

A giant shadow shuriken swept from the trees, faster, and knocked the needles out of the way. It embedded itself in the tree nearest me.

"Baka," Katana said airily as she stepped from the trees. A cloud of butterflies overhead dropped Garuki-kun out of the air. They'd been closer than Sutiibu-san; he was still nowhere to be seen.

"You're the idiot," I muttered, propping myself on one elbow and then scurrying to my feet. "Why'd you show yourself? Now he knows where all of us are!"

"Maybe." She smirked, speaking quietly, staring intently into a dense brush ahead. "But I saw where those needles came from, when he threw them. And now," she grinned even wider, "he's looking straight at me."

Garuki and I made a protection formation around Katana, clueless but trusting, as she made a series of hand signals. "Genjutsu: Eyes of Ligeia!" Suddenly the whole forest was enveloped by her eyes, dark now instead of green, all-encompassing. I couldn't move….I couldn't move….

I shook my head and dispelled the jutsu's hold on me as Katana prepared the long needles in her hands and held her arms out like wings. I was unable to decide why to scream at Katana first: for being so careless with a genjutsu as to let it take hold of comrades as well, or for being so stupid as to try genjutsu and needles on a _Rain ninja_. There was no way he'd fall for it.

One look at Garuki told me he was still dazed. I lunged at Katana to get her out of the way, but the Rain nin was too quick, and the needles hit her right shoulder and side.

_Better than her neck, where he was aiming_, I considered, but she was staring wide-eyed at her arm and right leg and I knew they had lost feeling. The needles were rarely lethal, but they had a deadly penchant for shutting down the nervous system.

"Garuki!"

The attack had dispelled the jutsu, and Garuki was thinking clearly again.

"You'll have to take this – I'll get her out of the way!"

He nodded and pulled out a scroll, biting his thumb. "I'll call the butterflies and Akira," he whispered tensely as I lugged Katana into the nearby bushes.

"Akira…and the butterflies at once? You're insane, Garuki! You know you can't control both giant summons! Just wait for sensei!"

But it was too late – the butterfly cloud had already dispersed into the trees to locate the Rain ninja.

"There's …no other…way," he said, trying to focus enough chakra for the second summon. "I can't…find him, otherwise. Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Ookii ookami Akira-sama!"

A gigantic clothing-clad wolf appeared, forcing a clearing in the trees due to his size, and peered down at Garuki as I hid with Katana in the bushes.

"That's Akira-_dono_ to you, kid," he rumbled skeptically. Then he looked about. "What's the deal? Why am I here?"

"I…need you to…find the Missing…nin…" Garuki attempted, breathless, but it was too much. His grandmother's special double-summon had several limitations; one was that calling either a large cloud of butterflies, or the giant wolf boss, required an immense amount of chakra. Both at once simply wasn't done.

Garuki wobbled in place, and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Akira stared down at him. He knelt, poked Garuki's limp body, and shrugged. "Whatever. You kids are on your own." And with that, he disappeared.

"Sensei. Sensei!" I spoke into my radio, hoping I wasn't loud enough to be heard by the ninja. "Where are you?"

"I'm…..occupied….Oni ninja," the radio crackled unevenly. He was good, I knew the battle would be quick. But I didn't have time.

The Rain ninja, for good reason feeling confident, stepped out of the bushes and moved toward Garuki. I looked from Katana to my fallen friend, wondering who I had more duty to protect.

_Who am I kidding? I can't protect either of them! This is my fault all over again…I led them here…I provoked him…_

The Missing Nin prodded Garuki with his sword tip much the way Akira had moments earlier. He gave a malicious grin in my general direction, but his eyes hadn't locked onto me yet. I was hidden, for the moment.

"Well?" He sliced a line down Garuki's left leg. "I know you're out there, little one. Aren't you going to come rescue your friend?"

I twitched, but didn't move. If I moved, he'd know where Katana was too.

"Oh?" The sarcasm was dripping. "He'll save you, but you won't save him? How quaint." He traced the sword along Garuki's body, tearing through the hooded sweatshirt as it went. "I suppose I'll have some fun with my art, then. It would be fun to make a carving out of this one…"

Anger, boiling in my fingertips, began to move through me; warmed my blood.

I mean that literally.

I felt my chakra renew in my center with every second of rage, and it filled my veins with a warmth unlike anything I'd ever felt. Not like the Warmth no Jutsu in which all Snow nin were trained. This was harsher, painful, concentrated in my fists as I clenched them and charged at the man once more.

"Do what you want to me; you will NOT hurt my friends!"

_I will _not_ be the one responsible for their deaths. I will _not_ get in the way!_

As I reached the ninja and swung my right arm at his head, fire sprung from it and lashed out at the man. His hair and clothing caught fire as I swept past him, and he grappled at his scalp, screaming. Only once he was distracted did I grasp the concept.

_I'm on fire._

My arm, my flesh, literally on fire, and it had caught onto my clothing too. I saw a flash of silver flack-jacket pass in front of me and take down the Missing Nin in a single sweep before I passed out from the pain.

Garuki was sitting on the edge of my hospital bed when I came to.

"What…happened?"

I felt heavily medicated, so my brain was hazy, but something had obviously gone wrong. I tried to blink the fog from my eyes, and saw Sutiibu-sensei in a chair across the room.

"Some sort of jutsu mishap," sensei said, still reading a magazine. "You caught on fire."

I remembered, then. Looking down at my arms, laying above the sterile hospital sheets, I saw the burn marks all over. The right arm was heavily bandaged, wouldn't bend at the wrist. I figured it should have hurt more, but the drugs and treatment seemed to be counteracting it.

"How'd you learn a fire-element jutsu, anyway, Hotaru-san?" Sutiibu asked, looking up then as if he'd only just considered it.

"I…don't know any, sir."

He raised an eyebrow and went back to his magazine. A shiny red hot-rod graced the cover.

"I'm just glad you're awake. It's been five days."

I coughed. "Five?"

"It took a lot of work for the healer ninja to mend the damage the fire caused," Sutiibu said mildly. "You were also nearly completely out of chakra. Any less and you'd have died." He looked at me then, and I saw the caring behind the nonchalance in those crystal blue eyes. "Don't mistake my lack of concern, Hotaru-chan. We've had five days to hear repeatedly that you will make a full recovery. We are glad you are all right. It was….a close call." His eyes moved downward. I didn't want him to feel guilty for what had been my fault, but I wasn't sure what to say. It was true that he had come late.

He stood. "I need to visit Katana-san." He glanced over his shoulder at me as he left the room. "She's next door. No permanent damage, but her leg is still numb, so no walking." He grinned. "It'll be an interesting trip home, don't you think?"

Mere moments later, a large group of medical ninjas and nurses crowded into the room and laid a person in the empty bed beside mine, closing a curtain between beds. Garuki peered around it.

"No use, I can't see. Oh, Nariko-chan!"

It took the both of them several minutes to calm me once I realized he wasn't referring to the injured ninja. Nariko had been at the stadium watching the final matches – the last round of the Exam was a tournament. When the ninja was injured, she'd helped to carry her to the hospital. The front desk had informed Nariko that I was awake, so she came to visit. She sat on the bed's foot opposite Garuki.

"It's Aiko-san," she said quietly, after establishing that I felt fine, if a little groggy.

"What happened?" Garuki asked.

"She was really cocky when her group passed the Second Exam," Nariko explained. "Said that no one from 'the historic and powerful Tsukiki clan' had ever failed, and she certainly wouldn't."

"And?" I prompted.

"Her first round match was against a Konoha ninja named Hyuuga Neji. The elite clan of Konoha, people said." She shook her head. "Aiko was so full of herself she wouldn't take him seriously. He's got a Bloodline Limit, guys, he can see tenketsu."

Garuki looked puzzled.

"The tiny holes in the chakra system," I explained, "where chakra leaves the body. Also connects chakra to internal organs. It's like acupuncture – if those tenketsu are hit, it can alter chakra flow, damage organs."

Garuki grew pale.

Nariko nodded. "That's exactly what happened. While she was standing there going on about her family, he moved in on her. He'd shut down her entire chakra system in a matter of seconds." She shook her head. "Frightening, how fast that boy could move. In any case, the 'historic Tsukiki clan' has nothing on the head clan of Konoha."

It seemed a horrible fate even for Aiko.

"Is she going to live?" I asked tepidly.

Nariko grew quiet for a moment, and I realized she was listening to the chatter behind the curtain. "She'll live. But her heart was damaged. She'll be weak for awhile."

Garuki shuddered. "Remind me never to fight a Hyuuga." Then he stood. "Look, I know you just woke up, but I haven't eaten in hours and I'm still trying to replenish my chakra supply."

"Don't worry about it," I said, and he took off, carefully skirting around the busy nurses on the other side of the room.

"So, your clothes are totally ruined," Nariko began, smiling. "You can borrow some of mine until we get home, if you want." She shifted a little. "Anyway…I heard what happened. I know what everyone says, about some fire jutsu gone awry, but…"

"But I don't know any fire jutsu!"

"Exactly. None of us do. That's Konoha stuff."

I blinked. "So?"

"So I think I know what happened, Hotaru-chan. Your family, they aren't ninjas, right? So who knows?"

"Who knows what? Stop being so enigmatic, Nari."

"Who knows – maybe it's a Bloodline Limit."

I spent hours that night pondering what Nariko had said. If anyone knew anything about Bloodline Limits, it would be Nariko. And it's true that with my family history, a hidden ninja talent simply wouldn't be known. We'd never been ninjas.

But how had we developed some "hidden ninja talent" without ninja training? Why had this fire thing never happened to Ryuro in his Academy years?

Still, I had no better explanation.

I stared down at my bandaged right arm. It didn't matter what it was, really. It had allowed me to save my friends, for once.

"I'll train it. I'll use it. I'll never be a burden again," I said to myself. "I'll use it to save them, whatever it is."

"Are you talking to yourself?" came an annoyingly familiar voice from the bed beside mine, but it wasn't quite as sarcastic as usual. There was an odd tone of…kindness…about it.

"Aiko-san. You're awake. I'm glad."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get all sappy on me. I know you don't care for me so you don't need to pretend."

"Okay."

There was silence.

"Look…I'm sorry."

Pause.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm…sorry. I've sort of thrown my clan name around, ever since the day we met, as some sign that I was better than you because you were from a farming family or whatever."

I said nothing. What was there to say? It was true.

"Well, I did that today and sort of got it fed back to me."

No kidding.

"Look, I don't need us to be like, buddies or something," she said with a tone of distaste. "I'm just saying, maybe clan isn't everything. You're some big hotshot hero now, and I lost my match in thirty seconds or less." The curtain was still pulled between us, but I could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

"You…heard about that?"

"Of course. Everyone has."

"I'm not a hero. I almost died too."

"Whatever, like I care."

More silence.

"Fine," she said. "Let's just leave it at this, shall we? Prove yourself better than me, one of these days, and maybe I'll give you a bit of respect, famous ninja clan or not."

I laughed inwardly at how she managed to contradict her own apology so effectually, but somehow I understood that as far as Aiko went, such an offer _was_ kindness.

"Deal."


End file.
